4 ms·

I had to stop reading when the author started talking about how togas gave them more privacy. 99% of Romans never wore a toga, and of those that did, they were

I had to stop reading when the author started talking about how togas gave them more privacy. 99% of Romans never wore a toga, and of those that did, they were only used for senate hearing and other special / public business.

nescioquid 5y ago
Even if I grant you are completely correct about your assertions about togas (I contest it), it seems whatever was said of the toga could apply to a tunic/chiton, himation, or whatever else people were wearing.
bluGill 5y ago
The Romans were not afraid of nudity. The public baths that this were next too would have been taken nude with other men. Most people learn about Romans from the Christians as the story of Jesus is with the backdrop of Roman rule. However the Christians inherited their nudity views from the Jews. Thus in the biblical areas there would be less nudity because of the Jews, and then the biblical writers would have censored the nudity parts even more to keep it christian friendly. Thus our cultural attitudes around nudity despite coming from a Roman area have nothing to do with what Romans would have felt.
- holoduke 5y ago
  The French, the Italians and the Spanish are generally very open minded towards nudity. This is quite compatible with the old Roman way of looking at it. The US together with most Germanic and Anglosaxic countries are much more strict.
  - shoto_io 5y ago
    Germanic are strict? What about Sauna and FKK culture then? I think its just the Anglosaxons :)
    - adrianN 5y ago
      FKK is a fairly recent invention born out of the health movements popular in the early 20th century.
- kerev989 5y ago
  You missed the point of the previous comment. The gist was that the author of the article has no clue about the Roman way of life and cannot be taken seriously.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Yeah, but they still managed to get some things wrong. Or maybe just imply something other than they meant. I'm no expert in Rome, but I found tons of things that screamed this can't be right (in the article).
- User23 5y ago
  And yet they often had sumptuary laws forbidding the wearing of silk, which was on account of it left very little to the imagination.

nescioquid 5y ago

Even if I grant you are completely correct about your assertions about togas (I contest it), it seems whatever was said of the toga could apply to a tunic/chiton, himation, or whatever else people were wearing.

bluGill 5y ago

The Romans were not afraid of nudity. The public baths that this were next too would have been taken nude with other men. Most people learn about Romans from the Christians as the story of Jesus is with the backdrop of Roman rule. However the Christians inherited their nudity views from the Jews. Thus in the biblical areas there would be less nudity because of the Jews, and then the biblical writers would have censored the nudity parts even more to keep it christian friendly. Thus our cultural attitudes around nudity despite coming from a Roman area have nothing to do with what Romans would have felt.

holoduke 5y ago
The French, the Italians and the Spanish are generally very open minded towards nudity. This is quite compatible with the old Roman way of looking at it. The US together with most Germanic and Anglosaxic countries are much more strict.
- shoto_io 5y ago
  Germanic are strict? What about Sauna and FKK culture then? I think its just the Anglosaxons :)
  - adrianN 5y ago
    FKK is a fairly recent invention born out of the health movements popular in the early 20th century.
kerev989 5y ago
You missed the point of the previous comment. The gist was that the author of the article has no clue about the Roman way of life and cannot be taken seriously.
- bluGill 5y ago
  Yeah, but they still managed to get some things wrong. Or maybe just imply something other than they meant. I'm no expert in Rome, but I found tons of things that screamed this can't be right (in the article).
User23 5y ago
And yet they often had sumptuary laws forbidding the wearing of silk, which was on account of it left very little to the imagination.